


Twelfth Night

by nekokoban



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-14
Updated: 2013-01-14
Packaged: 2017-11-25 12:42:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekokoban/pseuds/nekokoban
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the twelfth night, Jack finds a toy rabbit and has no idea where it came from.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twelfth Night

**Author's Note:**

> What if I just only ever wrote kinkmeme fills. ('-' ) From [this prompt](http://rotg-kink.dreamwidth.org/2200.html?thread=1979800#cmt1979800).

On the Twelfth Night, Jack found a toy rabbit.

It was just a scraggly little thing, barely bigger than his palm; if he cupped his hands he could wrap it in his fingers with space leftover. It lay on its side on the frozen surface of his pond, near the center, as if it had been dropped and slid out too far to be retrieved -- there were small footprints in the dusting of powder snow near the edges, but none that ventured out towards the center. Whoever had dropped it had probably been forced to abandon their quest by a worried parent, even if it was in the deep of winter and the ice was good and solid.

It was too bad, though; whoever had made it had put a lot of love and work into it. The seams were so thin and painstakingly stitched that they were nearly invisible, and the embroidery on its coat was fantastic, to a level of detail that nearly rivaled some of his best frost-patterns. One forepaw was tucked to its chest, and the other held a small lantern aloft, which had a miniscule latch that, when flipped with the tip of his fingernail, allowed the tiny door to open. Inside, it looked like a small yellow crystal had been fixed into place; with good lighting, it would appear as if the lantern were lit. At first, Jack thought _North,_ but something about the craftsmanship seemed off -- he'd seen North produce some truly amazing and delicate work, but with the number of children in the world, there just wasn't the _time_ to do something this painstakingly elaborate.

Besides, North would never be so careless as to simply drop a toy and leave it behind, and if he meant to give it to Jack, he would have handed it over himself.

Just in case, though, he caught a ride on the north wind to the Pole, keeping the little toy tucked close under his hoodie. It wouldn't do to damage the more delicate work, especially with the lantern.

Phil glowered at him when he dropped in (literally, in fact; he touched down with one foot on the yeti's massive shoulder and it took nearly a minute before he was noticed -- head of security, hah!), then waved him in, distracted with the work of sawing out a giant block of ice. It would probably be for North's sculpting later. Jack grinned and saluted to him before kicking off, wandering his way up the spiralling stairs to North's study. This soon after Christmas, North would be busy with blueprints and new designs, and therefore would be confined to that one room, instead of tromping all over the workshop, lost in the coordinated chaos.

He knocked twice before he cracked the door open just a little, peeking inside. "North?"

"Ah! Jack!" He had enough time to skitter out of the way before North yanked the door open, his arms wide. He beamed like the sun coming up, the sort of careless open smile that Jack envied as much as he loved. "You have come to see me! What can I do for you, my friend?"

"Er. Well. Nice to see you too-- whoa, whoa, hey!" He had to throw an arm out when North swooped in for the kill -- or a hug, same difference. "Careful, you'll break it!"

"It?" North paused, still leaning forward with his arms open. He looked to Jack's staff automatically, quizzical. "Is not so fragile, is it? I see it, it is made of oak! Good and solid, yes?"

"No, no, I mean--" Jack pulled the toy rabbit out from his hoodie, running careful fingers over it to make sure it hadn't been damaged in the flight over, then held it out. "This isn't yours, is it?"

North rocked back a little, tutting. From among the deep folds of his pocket he pulled out a small pair of glasses, squinting through them. He took the rabbit from Jack with careful fingers -- for such a big man, he had a delicate touch. Part of Jack was loath to let it go, but he stuck his hands deep into his pockets, scuffing one foot against the floor as he watched North examine the toy. After what felt like a short eternity, North tutted and held it back out.

"It is not mine," he said. There was something odd in his voice, something Jack couldn't quite place -- but his eyes were clear and bright, without any trace of a lie in them. "Work like this, it is too specific. It was made _for_ someone. Or, more, it was made for _someone_." He cocked his head again, a gesture that should have looked out of place, but fit unfairly well. "Made with someone in mind, by hands that loved them. A very special sort of thing." He shook his head as Jack took the toy rabbit back. "Where did you find this?"

Jack shrugged. He looked down into the rabbit's face, brushing against its fuzzy cheeks with his thumbs. The fur was really soft, like it'd come from a real rabbit. "It was just there, on my pond," he said. "Like someone dropped it, or something. I kind of hoped you'd know who lost it -- you know, since, heh, I'd hate to think about some kid being upset that their precious stuffed bunny was gone."

"Mmmm." The noise seemed to rumble up from deep inside North's body. Jack looked up, just in time to catch the tail end of a deeply speculative look on North's face -- but then it was swept aside by the man's natural enthusiasm. "Is not such a bad thing, yes? In that case, keep it safe in meantime. Day may come when you may return it to proper owner."

"Yeah?" Jack looked up, a faint smile on his face. "You think so?"

North fixed him with a mock-solemn look, then patted his belly with both hands. When Jack laughed he joined in, and swung a broad arm around Jack's shoulders, ushering him in. "Now! In meantime, you come see -- I have new ideas this year, many new ones! You will like them, I think!"

It was nearly six hours later before Jack left, loaded down with snacks and some portion of leftovers from dinner (every day was a feast day at the North Pole, it seemed), and this time he caught a southerly wind, riding its gentler waves to the warmer parts of the world, and to the Tooth Palace.

He was noticed before he even set foot down; from the largest of the structures, where the tooth library itself was, a small glowing spark detached and flung itself through the air at him, chittering excitedly. Jack caught Baby Tooth with a small laugh, cupping her in one hand against his cheek as she nuzzled and chirped at him in excited rapidfire. _Busy busy busy we are so busy I love you I missed you busy busy busy today I picked up three teeth all on my own I dropped off the coins I did it yes busy busy busy I love you I'm glad you're here._

"I missed you too, Baby Tooth." He touched down carefully -- the south wind was less harsh than the north, but it was stronger here, where it was warm, and sometimes it forgot its own power. He skipped a few steps to catch his balance, then looked around. "Now, if the baby's here, where's the mama--"

"Jack!" As if on cue, Tooth darted down from the top of the library. "What a nice surprise! What's the occasion?"

"What, can't a guy come see his favorite girls when he feels like it?" He rubbed a careful finger along Baby Tooth's crest as she cooed at him for the compliment. "Since when did that sort of thing need an occasion?"

Tooth blinked, then broke into a brilliant smile. For all that she liked to wax poetic about his teeth, she had some pretty nice ones herself. "You flatterer." She dipped lower, her feet not quite brushing the ground. Baby Tooth nuzzled Jack's cheek again, the equivalent of a kiss, then flitted back to Tooth, chirping happily the whole time. "But it's a light workday, so I think I can spare some time for one of my favorite guys."

"Only one of them?" He put a hand to his heart.

"One of my _very_ favorites," she agreed, then laughed at the exaggerated face he pulled. Her gaze darted to the bag slung over his shoulder and she tsked. "Had dinner with North, I see."

"His idea."

"It always is." But in spite of her long-suffering tone, she was smiling. "You should be careful, Jack. There's so much sugar in that place, and we don't want your pretty teeth suffering for that, that'd be such a tragedy -- oh! Did you come here for floss? I've got some of that, I've got plenty, take some--"

He laughed, waving a hand to try and cut off the rising tide of words; it took a few passes, but she did stop, looking at him curiously. "Okay, okay, you got me. I've got a question, but I _did_ come to see you guys, too. So that can wait."

"A question?" Tooth paused in midair, curious. Baby Tooth darted forward again, an echoing look on her face. "Of course, Jack, what is it?"

As he had at the workshop, Jack pulled out the small rabbit and held it out. "Does this look familiar to you at all? I mean, I know you've been going out in the field more lately, so--"

"Oh, it's adorable!" Tooth clasped her hands, beaming. "Where did you find that?"

He shrugged. "At my pond," he said. "I think someone must've dropped it there, but look at it. I bet someone's gonna miss it soon, if they're not already. North said it was made with love -- it'd be terrible to lose that, right?"

Tooth darted closer, reaching to run her slim fingers delicately over the rabbit's upraised ears. The smile on her face was gentle. "With love, huh?"

"Yeah." He looked at the rabbit instead of her, embarrassed when Baby Tooth flitted in to nuzzle lovingly against her cheek. "So I thought, you know, you've got so many teeth here, surely someone's gonna remember having this ..."

"Jack!" She leaned back, somewhere between annoyance and amusement. "Do you know how many millions -- how many _hundreds_ of millions -- of teeth there are here?"

"It's not like there are that many kids that live in Burgess," he protested. "That's not so much, is it?"

She tsked and shook her head. "I can't just open those on a whim," she said. "Either the child him- or herself needs to open it, or else I have to know it's needed."

"Need to know?"

Tooth tapped her temple. "There are rules, Jack," she said softly. "Call it an instinct, like how Sandy knows what sorts of dreams work best for what child. I can't just go around opening memories as I feel like it, that goes against my role as a Guardian." She softened a little at the crestfallen look on his face, reaching to touch his cheek lightly. "I'm sure, if the child really misses it, you'll be able to find them. You've got an instinct for that sort of thing, don't you?"

He ducked his head a little, but peeked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"You're a natural with kids," she said, and let her hand drift up to ruffle his hair. "Even if you don't know every child in Burgess, I don't doubt that if any of them were really hurting or sad, you'd find them and you'd cheer them up. Big Brother Jack, right?"

The title made his stomach do an odd little flipflop. He dragged his toes against the ground, watching as they left a faint film of powdery snow that vanished a heartbeat later in the heat. "You think so?"

"I _know_ so." She ruffled his hair again, then pulled back. "Now, I can't go poking around in memories for you, but I _can_ show you around a bit more. Oh, and give you some floss! Maybe a toothbrush too, you _do_ have one of those, don't you, Jack? You don't? Oh, that won't do at all, come on--"

She caught his arm and pulled him with her, and Baby Tooth fluttered to land on his shoulder, chirruping echoes of Tooth's words with her own childish joy interspersed -- _busy busy teeth are important healthy teeth are good your teeth are nice you smell nice I like it when you visit, you should visit more often, am I really your favorite?_

He rubbed a finger along her crestfeathers again and laughed when she swooned. "Yeah," he murmured, in a voice just for her, "my very favorite."

As night fell across the northern hemisphere, Jack caught another wind back towards his home, waving goodbye over his shoulder as he went. He let the thermals carry him higher and higher, searching the darkening sky until he found what he was looking for -- a distant bright swirl of gold, moving gently across the cloudbank. He spun and quickly changed direction, angling towards that spark.

"Hey, Sandy!" he called, once he was close enough. "Working hard?"

Sandy was seated on the middle tier of his clouds, a swirling ball of golden sand floating between his cupped hands. He smiled at the sight of Jack, waving; as he did, the sand he'd been holding dissolved to dust, drifting away, through the clouds and down towards the sleeping earth. Jack caught sight of frolicking kittens and an impressive pirate ship among other things as he drifted past. He perched at the edge of Sandy's cloud, watching with fascinated interest as Sandy dipped his hands into glowing dreamsand and pulled out another perfectly-round sphere, letting it spin and spin between his hands, creating scenery of more animals, glittering ships, and smiling faces before they all melted away, heading to their proper dreamer. After this though, Sandy looked at Jack and gave him an encouraging smile.

"Huh? Oh, right. I found something earlier--" For a third time, he produced the little toy rabbit and held it out. "I was wondering if you'd know who might have lost it. Cute, isn't it? Someone's probably missing it right now."

Sandy leaned to get a good look at it, then nodded, thumping a fist into his open palm in an "aha!" gesture. Over his head, sand swirled and formed the shape of a rabbit's head.

"Uh." Jack smiled, bemused. "Yeah, I know it's a rabbit, Sandy. It's pretty obvious."

Sandy huffed silently at him. The rabbit's head faded, then reappeared, followed a moment later by a few egg shapes.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "... You're not serious."

Sandy crossed his arms and fixed the most serious look possible on his round little face.

"No, no, no." He rocked back on his heels a little. "You absolutely can't be serious. Why would _Bunny_ give me this?"

He expected Sandy to just roll his eyes, or maybe to laugh at him -- but instead, the saddest look crossed his face. It wasn't like the expression he'd had when Pitch had nearly defeated him, nearly a year ago; this was older, harder, and more tired. He reached out and took the toy rabbit gently from Jack, holding it up to be eye-level with him. Over his head, more scenes began to flicker: first a tall rabbit-eared figure, familiar with its barrel-chest and posture -- and then suddenly there were more of them, dozens and more, of all shapes and sizes, until they surrounded both Jack and Sandy in their numbers.

And then, one by one, the others began to disappear. Some simply vanished, dissolving back into sand -- but others began to run, as if fleeing something, but always in the end overcome by their invisible assailants and keeling over.

In the end, Bunny was the only one left. The sand-figure looked around slowly, then bent to its knees and remained still for a long time, before Sandy let that image fade away too. He fixed Jack with another solemn look, then handed the toy back.

Jack took it carefully, in fingers that felt oddly numb. "No way," he breathed. Something in the pit of his stomach felt twisted; part of him wanted to turn and vomit. "What happened--?"

Sandy just shook his head. But for just a split second, the edges of his cloud flickered and went black.

"Pitch--?"

Sandy heaved a deep sigh and put a finger to his lips. Over his head, Bunny's shape appeared again, with enough detail to mimic his normally stern expression, and Jack sighed as well.

"Right, okay, ask him instead. Got it." He stood up, carefully tucking the toy back into his hoodie, safer closer to his body. "Thanks, Sandy. Later, let's play, all right?"

The question brought a smile back to Sandy's face. He nodded, then waved as Jack jumped, summoning up a large wind to carry him where he wanted to go.

It was mid-afternoon in Australia by the time he arrived, and nearly hot enough that he almost regretted coming here right away.

Almost.

It took a bit of searching to find the telltale signs of the Warren -- finding something amidst a dizzying blur of green was harder for him than seeing shapes against the white and shadowed blue of ice and snow -- but find it he did, dropping down heavily to the ground before two large egg sentinels. They shuffled towards him, turning their most stern faces toward him -- like their master, they didn't really have much of a sense of humor when it came to Jack's pranks.

On the other hand ... could he really think something like that any more?

"Uh." He looked from one stone face to the other, tucking his hands into his pockets. "I don't suppose you'd know if Bunny's in, huh?"

Their faces didn't change, but it was amazing the sheer _volumes_ of things they could say with their silence. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Look, I just want to talk to him, all right? Easter's not for a few months, he can take a few minutes out of his schedule, right? Besides, I've got this--"

This time, when he pulled out the toy rabbit, there was an immediate and visceral reaction.

Both of the stone eggs straightened immediately, pulling back. Their faces spun and settled on the same stern expressions as before -- but there was something different about it, in a way Jack couldn't quite put his finger on. Maybe it was a trick of all the bright sun, and the dappled green shadows of the overhead leaves, but something about their faces now ... seemed sad.

He looked down at the toy, then back up at them.

"Can I go see him?" he asked.

In unison, they stepped apart, leaving the entrance to the Warren open to him. Feeling oddly self-conscious, he walked forward, listening as they moved back into place after him. He heard the soft grinding of their faces moving, and he didn't need to look to know that they had turned their sad faces towards him again, to watch him go.

He didn't know exactly how he knew where to go -- it wasn't like he'd been a Guardian for long, and he didn't have any of the sixth sense the others did for knowing where to find each other -- but he let his feet take him where they would, and they led him straight to Bunny, seated next to a clear stream, surrounded by a gaggle of unpainted eggs. He did not look up at Jack's approach, though one of his ears twitched, swiveling towards him.

Jack stopped a short distance away. He held out the rabbit. "What's this about?"

Bunny still didn't look. He shrugged a shoulder, apparently engrossed in whatever it was he was doing -- with his back to Jack, it was hard to tell. "What's what about? You'll have to be clearer, mate."

"I think you know." Jack remained still, staring hard at the stiffness of Bunny's back, the hard set of his shoulders. "I talked to the others."

One of Bunny's ears twitched, but he still didn't turn. "North needs to learn to keep his mouth shut."

"It was Sandy."

"Him too."

"He can't even talk."

"Same difference." For a moment Bunny's posture tightened even further; it reminded Jack of a wild animal about to lunge -- though whether to attack or to flee, he couldn't be sure.

Then Bunny sighed and twisted a little, finally looking at Jack. He reached and patted the spot next to him wordlessly.

Slowly, cautiously, Jack approached, dropping first to a crouch, then a cross-legged position next to Bunny. When he looked, he saw there was a coat in Bunny's lap -- the same sort that the little toy rabbit had, though the larger size made the details easier to see. There was a needle and thread in Bunny's other paw, and a button that looked like it was in the process of being sewn on.

"S'been a long time since I've worn this thing," Bunny said, in a soft voice. "Silly, isn't it?"

Jack shrugged a little, trying to keep his expression neutral. "I think it's kind of nice."

Bunny sighed. He turned his head, but he didn't look at Jack, just at the toy in his hands. "Almost forgot I had that thing," he said, in a faraway voice. "Found it while I was getting things cleaned up, in preparation for Easter this year. Gotta make it a big one, after the turnout last year." His lips curled, but his smile was more tired than anything else. "Can't let North beat me again, he'd never let me hear the end of it."

"Why me?" Jack asked softly. "You don't -- you're not really ... I mean, a present? That's not really your style, is it?"

Bunny shrugged once, returning his attention to sewing the button back into its place on the coat. "If you don't like it, you can leave it here. I'll find somewhere for it."

"That's not what I meant," he protested. "It's just -- I didn't expect it, okay? Why me?"

He watched as Bunny's paws trembled, then came to a stop again. "How much did Sandy tell you?"

"Some." Jack shifted until he was facing Bunny completely, still cross-legged, the rabbit toy held carefully in one hand. "He didn't really give me a lot of details, though. Just ... that maybe there were more like you. Once."

"Once." Bunny let out a hissing sigh. "That was a long time ago. Longer'n you've been around, that's for sure."

Jack said nothing, watching his face.

"Twelfth Night, though, that's a special night," Bunny went on, his voice lowering to a mutter, as if to himself. "Even before humans got their different beliefs and ideas tangled up in it. Twelfth Night was when we'd have a feast and there'd be blessings for the kits born for the year." He curled his paws and pressed them hard against his knees, but that wasn't enough to hide their trembling. "Twelve blessings for each kit, and a guardian to protect them against the darkness."

There was something in the way that he said that which made Jack's breath catch in his throat. They'd all been someone before they became Guardians, Tooth had told him so, but he'd always wondered in the back of his mind what on earth Bunny could have been -- giant talking rabbits weren't really a thing, were they?

But in light of Sandy's revelation, there seemed to be a pretty good reason why.

_Kits,_ Bunny had said. He'd been so gentle with Sophie too, once he'd gotten over his initial indignation; there had been a practiced ease to his arms around her, like he'd done that sort of thing before ...

Jack took a deep breath. Before he could speak, though, Bunny closed his eyes said something in a strange liquid language that was unlike anything Jack had ever heard in his life -- something that made his ears burn to hear and something in his throat lock up even without understanding a word of it.

Then Bunny looked at him, looking older than he ever had in Jack's life -- older than the forests that had surrounded his childhood home, older than the mountains that brought him the snows he loved, older than the soft fertile earth beneath and between them.

"'To you I give my blessings, to you I give a light to show you the way,'" he said, and in his gut Jack knew those had been the same things he'd said before, in that unfamiliar longing language, so long-dead that it no longer had any name. "'To you I pledge my arm, to you I give welcome to my home. Grow strong and grow proud, and live well in the light.'"

Jack swallowed hard. He had to look away before Bunny finished speaking, down at the rabbit in his hands. With a very gentle finger, he nudged its tiny lantern, watching as sunlight caught in the yellow crystal and sent sparkling fractures across the grass. It suddenly felt heavier than anything he'd ever held in all his life, and there was a burning feeling deep in his throat that rose and rose until it was in his eyes. It took a few deep slow breaths to be sure he wasn't going to just cry on the spot.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I. I'll do my best."

There was a pause, then then Bunny's paw came down on his head, warm and heavy; when he looked up, there was a smile on Bunny's face -- tired, still more sad than anything else, but full of something that was almost -- almost! -- peaceful.

"I know," he said.


End file.
